In his recall response, mayor points to lack of charges, stresses city’s future

Mayor Jim West denies using his office for personal gain and asks voters to reject his recall “so we can continue to work to make Spokane a better place.”

To counter the ballot language he unsuccessfully challenged in court, West on Friday afternoon submitted the response he is allowed under the state’s recall law.

He asks that voters remember he has not been charged with any crime or with misusing his office. “In fact, I have committed neither,” he wrote. “In America we are innocent until proven guilty.”

The response extols progress West says Spokane has made, saying the city has “solved the River Park Square issue and passed a plan to fix our roads,” trimmed the budget and improved government efficiency.

“Spokane is now recognized nationally as a city that can attract jobs and promotes economic growth,” he wrote.

West also admits “errors in my private life” but says he’s apologized and asked for forgiveness.

State law gives West 250 words on the ballot for his response to the charge. He used 249 words and submitted it on the last day available under the recall statutes.

Shannon Sullivan, who wrote the original recall petition and led the successful signature drive, called West’s response “just another smoke screen by the mayor.”

“He has not been convicted of anything – yet,” Sullivan said. “There’s still an investigation by the FBI under way.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized West’s computers this summer after The Spokesman-Review began reporting accounts of young men who said that they met West on a gay Web site and that he offered them jobs or gifts in exchange for sex.

Sullivan also scoffed at West’s reference to street repairs and said they were made possible by a bond issue approved by the public. As for solving the River Park Square controversy, she added, many people she met while gathering signatures said they were unhappy with the settlement.

At one point in his response, West states recall supporters were unable in court to specify how he admitted offering anything to anyone for personal gain. “They could not because it never happened,” he wrote.

Sullivan, who is not a lawyer but argued part of the case in court, said that she remembers the discussion differently and that her attorney Jerry Davis explained that West made offers under a pseudonym. She was there and West wasn’t, she added.

The high court was apparently satisfied, Sullivan said, because they rejected his appeal after 93 minutes of deliberations.

The recall is scheduled for a special all-mail election Dec. 6. Whether West is ousted or retains office will be decided by a simple majority of voters.